Priorities for Medicinal Plants Research and Development in Pakistan

Contents: Foreword. 1. Cultural background, health systems and the resource base. 2. Economic background. 3. The traditional health care system. 4. Information and coordination. 5. Towards a sustainable medicinal plants sector in Pakistan. References. Appendices.

"This report, which is one of a series of country studies being conducted in South Asia, with funding and support from the IDRC Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Program in Asia (MAPPA), previously known as the IDRC Medicinal Plants Network (IMPN), provides a comprehensive review of the medicinal plant sector in Pakistan. It describes the prevailing situation with regard to this sector, including the cultural background and issues related to the resource base. A number of important themes are focused upon - the economic background; the traditional health care system practised in Pakistan and information and coordination - with constraints, opportunities and priorities being outlined for each of these topics. Finally, the report proposes a number of multidisciplinary interventions, which would address crucial gaps, and which would go a long way towards achieving the sustainable development of the medicinal plant sector in Pakistan."